What is Somatic coaching?
Our wildness will set us free.
The word soma is from the Greek meaning: The living organism in its wholeness. Our soma is our mind, body and spirit. Somatic coaching works through the body as our vessel for transformation.
If you’ve tried with your mind and still haven’t reached your goals, somatic coaching can give you tools to change your life, cultivate your intuition, heal, play more(!) identify & follow through with your dreams all while feeling a depth of dignity and belonging.
We are inherently somatic beings, this isn’t new work, it is in all of our lineages. Many of us lost connection because of colonization and capitalism and depending on our ancestry, abilities, class and spirituality our bodies have taken on different shapes. The connection to our authentic selves still lives within our tissues and cells. This is the work of remembering who we really are.
Why is this work referred to a politicized somatics?
Politicized somatics honors that all beings deserve to feel belonging, safety and dignity. There are somatic practices tracing back through all of our lineages, working through the body as our vessel for transformation, both our individual bodies and our collective body. Throughout time all peoples have had practices that support our communal connection and honor our relationship as earth bodies.
We all have wild natural impulses that lead us to profound connection. The work of politicized somatics teaches us to reclaim the natural intelligence and wildness in our bodies capitalism and colonialism have conspired for us to suppress. This has led to the current crisis within our communities, where many have been so indoctrinated by white supremacy we feel alone and have forgotten solidarity, our togetherness. Liberation is achieved when we open our hearts to remember we are all one. This work brings us back into connection, giving us tools to heal, inspire and change our world.
In our work together your particular social location, life experience and cultural context is explored for the sake of liberation. We will honor the way your body has responded to life circumstances with curiosity and compassion.
Transforming systems, honoring our ecosystems and building relationships takes courage and support. Through physical, meditative and contemplative practices (adapted for all bodies), conversation and connection we expand our ability to feel therefore giving us more choice in life, greater resilience and capacity to participate in the Great Turning we are amidst.
(the Great Turning is a term used by Joanna Macy)
Who do I work with?
I welcome all bodies and abilities, and people of all backgrounds. I welcome (and have worked with) artists, activists, healing practitioners, teachers, entrepreneurs, those working in both radical and conventional contexts and more. As someone who is disabled and politicized through a disability justice framework, one way I support people is in healing from internalized ableism.
What does creativity have to do with it? How about plants?
Ritual, ceremony and what has been come to be known as art are all somatic healing modalities. Through this work you begin to remember the fullness of your authentic self. You may long to break free from your inner critic. This work lends itself to supporting you to live a creative life.
Through somatic healing you may recover and restore healing rites and arts of your ancestors. Reverence for and curiosity about plants, trees, animals and the unseen world may increase. Creative impulses and a revived desire to create may move through you. As these potentially vulnerable feelings come up, I am here to support the unfolding.
As a community herbalist, a ritualist, an intuitive person and an art teacher who has focused on healing creative wounds, I am here as your accomplice for this part of your journey. We weave this into our work together.
In our work together you can expect
To identify and make commitments to meet your goals
To receive steady presence, guidance and support from me
An opportunity to transform your life through your body
To be introduced to honoring and befriending tensions, adaptations and constrictions in your body
To learn skills to support the alignment of your values with action in your life for the sake of collective liberation
To identify what embodied consent feels like
To hone your intuition and your somatic vocabulary
Zoom and in person sessions (in Olympia WA, Squaxin land)
Work with couples and triads:
I support couples and triads to identify collective goals, desires and dreams and work towards the actualization of them. I have worked with couples and families for over a decade in a process I developed. I support you all in negotiating life choices, clarifying shared values and traveling the path of life together.
Cost
$125-$175 sliding scale for a 55 minute individual session. $150-$225 for a 60 minute session with couples or triads. If this pricing is inaccessible for you financially, please inquire via email, I have openings for a couple of clients at a lower sliding scale.
Please be in touch with me via email to set up a complimentary 30 minute meeting to see if it’s a good fit for you:
Please note: Somatic coaching is not therapy. I am not a therapist, nor a couples counselor. This is not an addiction recovery program. I am a community herbalist and not certified to offer medical advice. Though I am a trauma informed practitioner, I am not certified to diagnose or treat mental illness. This work is not a good fit if you are experiencing or need support for a severe mental health crisis. If I have concerns for your physical or mental health I will refer you to appropriate practitioners.
Why I do this work
I hold precious a dream of the world to come, where all beings are valued and free, where there has been deep healing from harm to our earth and human’s feel a profound sense of belonging to all that is.
It is with this dream, carried in a basket in my heart, I offer the work of somatic and creative embodiment. I partner with you as you come into greater awareness and deeper commitment of your values and dreams. I facilitate a holistic process for the articulation and actualization of your desires. This is done through tapping into your body's inherent wisdom, cultivating a felt sense of connection and nurturing your creative spirit.
I do this work in reverence to the collective transformation we are amidst, creating more space for individual integrity and connection which inherently builds a collective web for benevolent change.
Lineage
Somatics is an expansive field that stems from all different traditions across the earth. All peoples have used somatic healing from the beginning of our existence. There are many ways indigenous knowledge has been appropriated and erased in the “field of somatics” that needs continual tending as it does throughout the western world. I discuss where practices stem from in our individual work together. I am a lifelong learner and continue to learn and challenge what I have learned. I persevere to understand the impact of the violence of colonization and capitalism on our bodies for the sake of building the world to come. I work to bring truth to stories that have been left untold for the sake of collective healing and recognizing the world to come. *
My mother is a Feldenkrais practitioner for over 30 years, and these many decades practicing together have informed much of how I work with people. I was first introduced to the iteration of politicized somatics my practice orients around from ritual healing work, folks practicing Generative Somatics and later training with the Strozzi Institute. My work as an activist, community herbalist, ritualist and intuitive healer is somatic work. I was drawn to healing modalities through practicing and recovering my own ancestral lineages for almost three decades. I have experienced meditation trainings (in both Jewish traditions and Buddhist traditions), work with plants ( Ashkenazi, Sephardic and European folk traditions as well as learning from Indigenous teachers) and preparing oneself and engaging in direct political action as a form of somatic embodiment training. I appreciate the Lineage of Embodiment Panel Series from the Embodiment Institute which delves into more explicit conversation around lineage and somatics. As Prentis Hemphill discusses in this series: The term somatics exists because of colonization. You can see a more detailed lineage on my about page.
*the world to come is a Jewish story interpreted in many ways including: the world we are building as a collective by healing current and past harms; the healed world that already lives here in our reality that many of us are waking up to; what happens after a being dies/ life after death; the realm of the ancestors.
To learn more about somatics, check out these resources:
What Your Body Has to Do With Social Change by adrienne marie brown
Testimonials
The work I have undertaken with Rebekah has taught me that we are agents of our own transformation and the power of choosing our paths with intention. I am more aware of my different parts, and have autonomy to decide which part of myself to lean into during moments of heightened stress. I have a new found curiosity of my patterns, and am really enjoying getting to know myself, and love myself and my communities, more deeply. Life has become more pleasurable! Sessions are magic - both deep and fruitful, energizing and fun. I am so grateful for Rebekah and this work more generally. -Til
My work with Rebekah has been both grounded and expansive. Their calming presence always puts me at ease. They have met me where I am at, helping me to dig deeper into my present state to understand what my deepest needs and wants are. My work with Rebekah has allowed me to reconnect with my creative self, to touch base with my spiritual self, and has helped to guide me in making pivotal life decisions. -YR
Rebekah's somatic practice, wisdom of Earth-based Jewish feminism and compassionate yet firm coaching has been a life-saver this past year. Through our work together, I accessed physical, spiritual, and somatic work that felt untouchable in the past. Their accessibility and willingness to meet me where I was at was a consistent gift. -Lindsay
Getting into my body ranges from difficult to forgotten for me, but with Rebekah by my side it is a gentle, thoughtful and soothing process. I trust their approach to the work with values that I share, which allows me to follow their lead and be more present. Rebekah is a joy to work with. -Rosa
I worked with Rebekah one-on-one as I launched into a critical writing project. Rebekah helped me to trust in myself & the lineage of ancestors holding me. This sacred work helped me to fully surrender to my spirit & inner voice, allowing me to write with reverence, liberation & profound authenticity. The way Rebekah weaves creative freedom with Jewish priestess technology resonated deeply with me at exactly the right time.
Rebekah is like a kitchen witch, they look at my shelves of creative ingredients and support me in adding just the right amount of magic to my cauldron in order to manifest my dream potion. They have been elemental in my own witchy growth. I would recommend them to anyone who is ready to step into their power as a creator. -Ahlay Blakely
